PARIS — As part of its 50th birthday celebrations, Zara isn’t just throwing a Paris Fashion Week party — it’s invited 50 of its closest friends and longtime collaborators to create the object of their desire.
The result is a genre-crossing exhibition that will unfold beginning Thursday in a sprawling two-story pop-up at 40 Avenue Georges V, just steps away from the Dior and Louis Vuitton stores, as well as its own flagship on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
From a pink surfboard designed by newly appointed Balenciaga artistic director Pierpaolo Piccioli to a sofa courtesy of Spanish pop star Rosalía, the collection is both eclectic and entirely shoppable. The high-low style is the latest move for the fast-fashion behemoth as it aligns itself with creatives, and positions itself as aspirational.
Sarah Andelman
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Curator Sarah Andelman, the cofounder of legendary Paris landmark Colette and founder of Just an Idea, is behind the pop-up. Initially asked to contribute one of the 50 objects, she was ultimately tapped by Inditex nonexecutive chair Marta Ortega Pérez to curate the full exhibition.
“The list is impressive, but I think each talent also created something meaningful to them and to what can be done by Zara,” Andelman told WWD. The curator believes that each artist created their own coveted dream object. Cue Linda Evangelista’s cashmere bathrobe coat, for instance.
Linda Evangelista’s cashmere bathrobe.
Courtesy Zara
“It was a great way to have your world, your identity, merge with what Zara can facilitate and what would be exciting for the final consumer, too,” she said.
Andelman’s own object is a bookshelf — a sculptural take on the colorful book strap hangers her Just an Idea brand is known for. The larger version of the shelf retails at 1,400 euros.
“That’s the beauty of a partner like Zara. You can ask for anything,” she said, noting the broad range of its global supply chain, which spans from fashion to furniture.
The project, which was a year in the making, is the brainchild of Ortega Pérez, who has spearheaded the charge in repositioning Zara from high-street chain to cultural player through a robust collaboration strategy.
“It is an honor that these artists have chosen to mark our birthday with us in this way,” Ortega Pérez said. “Each is a leader of their field, in terms of imagination, innovation and integrity.”
Zara’s limited-edition Labubu from creator Kasing Lung.
Courtesy Zara
The final objects range from a Labubu figurine by creator Kasing Lung, priced at 529 euros; fashion pieces by Anna Sui and Cindy Crawford at 269 euros and 129 euros, respectively, and a pet carrier dreamed up by Steven Meisel, ringing up at 1,400 euros.
“They are all asking for something they want for themselves, or something that represents their work in a more affordable way,” Andelman said.
Oscar winner Pedro Almodóvar and photographer Annie Leibovitz designed T-shirts, priced at a more accessible 69 euros. Even Parisian croissant-maker extraordinaire Cédric Grolet joined the crowd, but with a pastry-themed jacket not a baked good, which is priced at 329 euros.
David Chipperfield’s handbags.
Courtesy of Zara
The exhibit, staged with help from Bureau Betak, the go-to agency for fashion show production for brands including Dior and Valentino, spans more than 5,400 square feet across two floors. The soundtrack was overseen by Chanel music director Michel Gaubert.
And there’s a café on the ground floor, courtesy of We Are Ona, the fashion-meets-food creative collective whose past work includes private dinners for Chanel and Jacquemus.
It’s not just Rosalía’s 3,500-euro couch that is an invitation to sit with Zara. The pop-up will also host a series of live talks and conversations, which are open to the public.
The program will feature talks by Women’s Earth Alliance cofounders Melinda Kramer and Amira Diamond, as well as Australian industrial designer Marc Newson on Thursday; photographer Mario Sorrenti on Friday, and art directors Fabien Baron and Ezra Petronio taking the stage together on Sunday.
Visitors can browse the pieces, while sales associates will be on-site to help with online orders. There also will be a ground-floor gift shop featuring past merch, such as T-shirts from Meisel’s collaboration.
“I think it will be a fantastic experience for the visitors during fashion week to see it all physically together instead of just online,” Andelman said.
Proceeds from all 50 objects will benefit Women’s Earth Alliance, with Zara matching the total contribution. In addition, the company will donate 20,000 euros to each of the 50 charitable organizations chosen by the artists.
For Ortega Pérez, this is the latest step in a careful evolution of the brand, which started in 2022 with a collection from Narciso Rodriguez.
Since then, Ortega and Zara have invested in long-term artistic relationships, including exhibitions in Inditex’s company town of A Coruña, Spain, through Ortega’s eponymous MOP Foundation. The museum has hosted works from artists including Irving Penn and Leibovitz.
“Zara’s relationship with art and artists is not new,” said Andelman, who added she has visited the MOP museum in Spain.
Indeed, working with major art and culture figures is now part of Zara’s playbook. “Even the way they show fashion — the fact they work with someone like Fabien Baron, who is the same art director as major luxury brands — I think it was a way for them to say, ‘Okay, we are here, and we play in the same courtyard,’” Andelman said.
Zara’s relationship with culture has been expanding since Ortega Pérez took the reins in 2022.
“They’ve built these relationships along the years, and it has become something that is really part of the brand identity,” Andelman said. Many are ‘friends of the house,” a fashion euphemism often used for associated celebrities that are not quite ambassadors.
Groulet, for example, curated the coffee breakfast when Zara opened its flagship on the Champs-Élysées in 2023; now lines stretch down the block for his flaky pastries.
Cedric Groulet’s croissant-themed jacket.
Asked if this is an art form, Andelman acknowledged the goods are “still product.”
“But for me, that product is made in a creative way, in an artistic way…it’s really a platform for all these different creative talents to do an object. And I think the fact that a singer or a fashion designer, a model, a photographer — they are all invited in to create in the same way, and all at the same level — I would say, yes.” It’s in the eye of the beholder.
The exhibit and talks are open to the public, and Andelman said this promotes Zara’s leveling take on aspirational and what she calls “accessible fashion.”
“It makes you dream,” she said. “It’s way more elevated than other brands in this world.”
The pop-up will run from Thursday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.